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History
Fearless
flag bearer for the truth
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History
The effect of this on especially ordinary country dwellers was such that most of them felt abandoned to fate, as they did not seem to be getting any attention from the authorities. Their resignation was matched by the malevolent complacency of the sitting APC government that showed little enthusiasm to abate their misery. The ravages of the war reached their highest during
November 1994 and extended into Christmas that year. By New Year's
day and through to January 1995, towns and villages in most of Eastern
and Southern Sierra Leone and, by then, some parts of the North, were
overrun. My own hometown, Serabu (Bo District), was razed to the ground along
with its prestigious showpiece hospital. The November 1994 blitzkrieg was
pandemic in scale. The NPRC military government of the day, though it did its
best in the circumstances, appeared incapable of giving the people protection
from the RUF's onslaught. This left one feeling a desperate urge
to initiate a process of sensitising the public and
to attack the ignorance that abounded among Sierra Leoneans about their
country's civil war. The ignorance had reached unspeakable proportions both
inside and outside the country, but especially the latter, as people openly
denied the reality of the war even as it crossed their doorsteps into their
very midst. It was, and probably still is, ignorance that accounts most for
the current lacunae in both the understanding and appreciation of the origins
of the civil war among Sierra Leoneans generally, but specifically those who
live abroad.
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The birth of Focus
In my own mind, I began to explore ways
of helping to redress this evident lack of concern about the war and its
ramifications. I concluded that the best way that I could contribute to this
was to start a newsletter in which some of the complex issues involved could
be analysed, reported and eventually
brought to the attention of those who might be persuaded to bring their
influence to bear on them. So commenced Focus
on Sierra Leone. (See here
for the maiden edition.)
This was not the first
newsletter about Sierra Leone that I had edited and produced. I had
previously founded and produced Sierra Leone Report, Watchman, New
Patriot and, for the last years of Siaka Stevens' presidency, SLAM
(which was the organ of the Sierra Leone Alliance Movement,
also founded by me and my colleague Mr Fred Kamara with whom I also
produced Sierra Leone Report). The papers had one common theme
running through them – the welfare and defence of the underprivileged,
disadvantaged and long exploited ordinary citizens of the country, and the
articulation of their views as one saw them, since they themselves did not
have the means to do so. As far back then, one
had begun sounding the alarm bells about impending civil strife but, alas, no
one paid heed. With time permitting, all editions of these papers will be
placed on the Focus web site for the benefit of visitors, especially
students. Focus was born out of a genuine
concern to keep the debate about Sierra Leone's future focused on the war and
its underlying factors, as well as on the real issues of poverty,
disadvantage and, of course, corruption and misrule by government. Since its
inception the newsletter has led opinion from the front, sometimes carrying
the opprobrium of those with vested interests in the current rotten political
system and in the civil war continuing. . |
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Fearless flag
bearer for the truth
Focus frequently
treads where others have feared to tread and when the overriding interest of all
Sierra Leoneans demands it. In our brief, there is no area of Sierra Leone's
public life that is taboo or beyond reproach, discussion and analysis.
Focus has never
shirked from telling hard truths, giving objective analysis and even
gratuitous advice for all who are concerned or involved in the governance of
the country. It has done so steadfastly with candour and without fear or
favour.
Living proof of this
was (and still is) our stand in advocating a peaceful resolution of the
conflict and in stressing, as far back as 1994, the need to engage in
dialogue rather than resorting to military force to bring the war (and the
coup of May 1997) – the epitome of many years of simmering unattended
grievances of sorts – to an end. We advocated this notwithstanding the
barbarity of the atrocities that the rebels were inflicting on innocent
defenceless citizens and the illegality of the subsequent AFRC usurpation.
The paper was resolute in stating that pouring petrol on a burning fire could
only lead to a greater fire and would not extinguish it. Eventually after
years of 'toughing it' out with the rebel RUF and (lately) renegade Sierra
Leone soldiers, Lomé became a last resort. But it has left this paper asking
the question: Why, if it could be done now was it not done before? Just think
how many people would be alive today who lost their lives needlessly because
some smart Alec fooled people into believing that they could somehow win a
guerrilla war outright! |
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The role of Focus Contrary to the
wishes of its distractors, it is not Focus' mission to replace
government or be the alternative government. That remains for all times the
sole prerogative of the Sierra Leonean electorate. The intention is not to usurp
or arrogate that role to itself but to help and educate our citizens to
discharge it sensibly. Nor is Focus a mouthpiece, agency or advocate
for any government, political party or interest group. Though the paper
operates away from the country, the motherland is never more than a heartbeat
away and it is that feeling that has conditioned one's thinking and continues
to provide one with the motivation to discharge what is truly one's patriotic
duty. To those who argue
that "long distance" commentators and analysts like Focus
are irrelevant to the reality on the ground, this editor responds by
recanting the Japanese proverb, which says, "the frog in the well does
not know the ocean". Surely, we do not all have to live in the self-made
hellhole of Sierra Leone, created by past and present corrupt, incompetent and
unpatriotic politicians, in order to see the daylight and proclaim
alternative ways of bringing the country out of its needless and undeserved
state of abject poverty. In addition, most of
the decision makers today are too closely involved with the present rotten
system to be able to think clearly or beyond their own personal interests.
But even so, one can easily sense the lack of vision of many of our
politicians who see no more than what happens inside their Lilliputian world.
Yet many key factors that impact on the country are from without. Therefore
those of us who are exposed to them and are familiar with the influences that
they can bring to bear on poor (and badly run) countries like our own, ought
to have our say and make our input. It should then be left to the politicians
to take the advice; or, as they habitually do, leave it at their and
everyone's peril! One thing however is
certain. There is absolutely no personal gain or interest in writing and
producing a newsletter like Focus which is non profit making and
purely philanthropic, other than a genuine desire to make a modest
contribution towards the country's development. |
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Ideology Focus further holds that in asserting our sovereignty as a people,
Sierra Leoneans will have to embrace a serious, radical but basic and
relevant programme that will address the bread and butter issues of ordinary
Sierra Leoneans. Many of our ills are not from natural disasters but simply
from our own inertia and mismanagement. What is called for is a new shift
of some power away from the centre (Freetown) towards the provincial cities,
and from these to the towns and villages. In other words power needs to
devolve from the centre to the fringes of Sierra Leonean society, so people
can learn to believe in themselves and their own worth, and start doing
things for themselves. Focus on Sierra Leone believes that what Sierra Leone needs right now in place of the
diatribes, sycophancy, name calling and rampant tribalism that is presently
the hallmark of current debates are the ideals of reason, persuasion and
argument based on fact, research and experience. Only these will provide the
much-needed intellectual stimuli and the materials to construct a
revolutionary kind of socialism that will lead to the creation of
dramatic improvements in the quality and standard of life of the average
citizen. The control, exploitation and distribution of resources are thus a
key determinant. |
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The future
challenge Focus is prepared for such a challenge and would willingly be part of,
or if necessary facilitate, a determined effort to forge a new way forward
for Sierra Leone, towards creating a consensus around a framework of ideas
that will truly reflect the basic aspirations of our nation. As with
most national endeavours of this kind, such a mission will fail unless the ideas
originate from, and are supported and sustained by, the grassroots. But for
even that to happen, it requires a core of dedicated, committed and
like-minded progressives whose thinking transcends the current tribal,
regional, sectional and class divides that have so tragically arrested our
country's march into the league of developing nations. |
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DO YOU HAVE ANY
POSITIVE IDEAS? Note: The newsletter Focus on Sierra Leone and this web
site are run and financed solely out of the personal commitment and
dedication of the editor. At various times subscriptions have been made by
members of the public but the infrequency of the editions of the paper (hence
subscriptions) has meant that it could not be run as an economic venture. In
any case, that has never been the intention. It always meant to be one's
personal contribution towards the debate about Sierra Leone's future and
progress.
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